American Energy Roadblocks by the Obama Administration

Costing American Jobs, Increasing Energy Prices

Since taking office, President Obama and his Administration have actively blocked, hindered and delayed American energy production. With gasoline prices quickly headed to $4 per gallon, the Obama Administration must abandon their policies and regulations that are costing American jobs, increasing energy prices, hurting families, harming our economy and threatening our national security by deepening our dependence on foreign energy.

2009:

February 4th

Withdrew areas offered for 77 oil and gas leases in Utah that could cost American taxpayers millions in lost lease bids, production royalties, new jobs and the energy needed to offset rising imports of oil and natural gas. According to a Uintah County commissioner, this prevented the creation of approximately 3,000 jobs.

February 10th

Delayed for six months the development of the new 5-year leasing program for offshore drilling that would have created new jobs, produced more American-made energy, and made us less dependent on foreign oil.

February 25th

Delayed the new round of oil shale research, demonstration, and development (RD&D) leases that would help advance American technology and create high-tech jobs in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. According to a study prepared for The National Energy Technology Laboratory, over 350,000 jobs would be created by the development of our oil shale resources.

February 26th

Introduced a budget that contains page after page of taxes on American energy totaling more than $31 billion and included a cap-and-trade national energy tax that could cost the average American family over $3,100 a year.

April 17th

Listed carbon dioxide as a hazardous pollutant, opening the door for the regulation of all CO2 emissions under the Clean Air Act.

April 27th

The Environmental Protection Agency ordered the cancellation of a permit for a Navajo Nation power plant that Navajo leadership called the most important development project the tribe has ever undertaken. The plant was expected to create 400 permanent jobs and generate $50 million per year in revenue.

June 29th

The Interior Department established new solar reserve areas under the premise of prioritizing solar development, but the actual result was the closing of all but two percent of federal lands from renewable energy development. This was done without public comment. The Department left open only 670,000 acres of the nearly 30 million acres of land with solar potential.

July 20th

Blocked new uranium mining for two years on one million acres of land in Arizona.

Department of Energy notified Congress that it would reprogram $115 million Congress appropriated to continue the Yucca Mountain licensing process, and instead use it to terminate the only national repository for spent nuclear fuel under current law.

March 3rd

Department of Energy filed a motion to permanently abandon Yucca Mountain – the nation’s repository for high-level spent nuclear fuel under current law – jeopardizing the future of nuclear energy.

March 12th

Withdrew 61 oil and natural gas leases in Montana as part of a lawsuit settlement over climate change.

March 31st

Ignoring statutory law, the Bureau Of Land Management agreed to settle a lawsuit out of court regarding the use of an “extraordinary circumstances” provision when using “categorical exclusions” for new oil and gas leases as defined by Section 390 in the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005.

March 31st

Announced a new offshore drilling plan that closed large portions of our offshore areas from future energy production.

May 6th

Issued a moratorium on all new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, creating further economic devastation and costing up to 12,000 jobs according to the Administration’s own estimates.

May 17th

Bureau of Land Management finalized rules, first announced by Secretary Salazar on January 6, 2010, to establish more government hurdles to onshore oil and natural gas production on federal lands.

May 28th

Officially lifted the moratorium on shallow water drilling – yet continued to slow-walk the issuing of permits, creating a de facto moratorium. (See May 6, 2010)

June 15th

In an Oval Office address on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, President Obama continued to push for implementation of a job destroying cap-and-trade national energy tax.

July 12th

Issued a new moratorium on deepwater drilling after the first moratorium was struck down in federal court. (See May 6, 2010)

July 19th

President’s Ocean Policy Taskforce issued final recommendations on implementing a Federally-controlled system of ocean zoning that could lock up huge areas of the ocean to energy development.

October 12th

Lifted the deepwater drilling moratorium – yet continued to keep the de facto moratorium in place by slow-walking the issuing of permits. (See May 6, 2010)

October 14th

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued an interim safety rule for the Gulf of Mexico, which stated that OPEC could offset a decrease in Gulf of Mexico deepwater production as a result of the Administration’s de facto moratorium.

November 18th

An Interior Department presentation showed that they plan to postpone new lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico until 2012.

November 30th

Interior Department announced it would consider proposals to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public lands – a technique currently regulated by states that is responsible for tremendous growth in natural gas production.

December 1st

Effectively reinstated the ban on offshore drilling, placing the entire Pacific Coast, the entire Atlantic Coast, the Eastern Gulf and parts of Alaska off limits to future energy production until 2017 at the earliest.

December 23rd

Interior Department announced a new “Wild Lands” Secretarial Order that could place hundreds of millions of acres of public lands off-limits to American energy production.

2011:

January 14th

Retroactively pulled a permit for a West Virginia coal mine, costing 250 American jobs.

February 2nd

Federal Judge finds the Interior Department in contempt of court for continuing to slow-walk Gulf of Mexico drilling permits. (See October 12, 2010)

February 14th

Released the FY 2012 budget proposal that includes over $60 billion in direct tax and fee increases on American energy production, which would raise gasoline and energy costs for all Americans.

February 15th

Announced further delays to U.S. oil shale production by deciding to re-review the current rules for commercial oil shale leasing.

February 17th

Federal Judge orders the Obama Administration to act on five pending deepwater permits within 30 days.

February 28th

Issued a token deepwater permit, over four months after the moratorium was officially lifted. But continued to slow-walk permits, keeping the de facto moratorium in place and leaving thousands of Americans out of work.

March 4th

Rather than end the de facto moratorium, the Administration filed an appeal to a Federal Court ruling that ordered them to act on stalled deepwater permits. (See February 17, 2011)

June 20th

Announced six-month extension of a ban on uranium mining in Arizona. The mining of this land could have produced thousands of high paying, family wage jobs. The U.S. currently remains 90% dependent on foreign sources of uranium.

October 26th

Secretary Salazar announces plan to merge BLM and OSM, an action that could move the coal mining industry one step closer to extinction and cause energy costs to skyrocket.

2012:

January 9th

Imposed 20-year ban on uranium mining on one million acres of Federal land. The mining of this land could have produced thousands of high paying, family wage jobs. The U.S. currently remains 90% on foreign sources of uranium. (See June 20, 2011)

January 12th

Released draft action plan to move forward with the President’s goal of mandatory ocean zoning. The policy could place huge portions of the ocean off limits to commercial and recreational activity.

January 16th

Rejected TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. This project would have created tens of thousands of jobs and transported nearly a million barrels of oil a day into the U.S.

February 3rd

Announced a draft Bureau of Land Management plan to close over a million acres of public land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to oil shale development.

February 13th

Released a FY 2013 budget that includes $45 billion in tax and fee increases on American energy production and shows declining revenues from offshore drilling.

March 16th

Energy Secretary Steven Chu issued a memorandum to the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and all other Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) that includes directives that could increase the cost of energy for millions of American families and small businesses.

March 28th

Announced postponement of a Virginia drilling lease sale until at least 2018 – seven years after it was supposed to happen. According to a study, the Virginia lease sale, which is included in House Republican’s bipartisan energy plan, will create 2,000 jobs and produce 750 million barrels of oil, 6.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

May 4th

Announced new proposed regulations on hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands that will cost American jobs and stand in the way of American energy production.

June 28th

Announced its new 2012-2017 off shore drilling lease plan that closes 85 percent of America’s offshore areas to energy production.

November 20th

Announced move to implement mandates in Energy Secretary Chu’s March 16 memorandum that could raise electricity rate for small businesses and 40 million American families.

2013:

January 18th

Announced new and onerous EPA regulations on Arizona’s coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, which employs hundreds of Navajo and Hopi tribal members, and provides affordable electricity and water to millions of Americans.

February 21st

Finalized plans to lock up over half of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) from energy production.

March 22nd

Announced onerous regulations that will discourage production of 1.5 trillion barrels of American oil shale.

April 10th

Released a FY 2014 budget that imposes billions of dollars of new taxes and fees on American energy production.

April 16th

Released the final implementation plan for the National Ocean Policy and mandatory ocean zoning initiative. If implemented, this will inflict red tape and economic damage both onshore and offshore across a wide-range of activities including energy production.

May 16th

Released proposed regulations of hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands that duplicate successful efforts of the states.